ITCM 26 - Keldanor
Inside the Competitor's Mind 26 - Keldanor I was looking forward to meeting Keldanor. I’d found out that he was a single malt whisky aficianado and he’d offered to buy me a whisky. I’d have met him just to taste some of his own personal single malt collection. He had mentioned the 25 year Talisker and 18 year Yamazaki in particular and I was incredibly envious and would have loved to taste the differences between the products of the different distilleries. But even more exciting, we were meeting at Chill Skybar, the classiest rooftop lounge in Ho Chi Minh. The view of Ho Chi Minh from the bar was just spectacular, and I couldn’t help letting out a sigh of pleasure when I got there. The hostess showed me to a table where Keldanor was already sitting. He rose from his seat with a smile, and pulled me close to kiss my cheek. “How about a Glenmorangie companta limited edition?” he asked as his smile turned teasing. I laughed and nodded. “It has a fruity nose with light taste of chocolate, perfect to enjoy the evening,” he added after placing the order for me. How delightful! I was feeling very pampered and loving it. The whisky arrived and he spent a few minutes explaining the art of single malt whisky tasting. We spent a few more moments enjoying our whiskies in reverent silence before launching into the interview. “I am 37 years old. I’m now divorced. I was born in Switzerland but I have relocated here to Vietnam. I have Vietnamese origins, hence the decision to relocate here. I work as a financial planner, helping my clients manage their wealth and achieve their financial goals. And mine,” he grinned as he raised his glass to me. “I am a geek and most definitely an epicurean. I enjoy fine food, wine, whisky and women,” he turned on the charm this time when he smiled. I sighed again, enjoying the atmosphere of seduction. “I have been gaming since childhood with my first computer, a C64, mainly playing RPG and wargame/strategy games. I love pen and paper RPG too and find hard to resist when friends call me for a poker night. Which, of course, includes many glasses of whisky!” he laughed, clearly enjoying the memories of these poker nights. “My IGN, Keldanor, comes from one of my pen and paper character. It was a double ADD (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) campaigns that lasted 7-8 years. The good old times when you were a student and had lots of time,” he shook his head, a little wistful for times gone by. “My forum name is Kietsensei, obviously different from my IGN. It is my name coupled with a Japanese word.” We shared another reverent moment over our whiskies before he continued, “I don’t have time for silly debate and people crying on the forum and all the drama associated with it. That’s why I do not post a lot on the forum. In Vietnam, if I want that kind of thing, I can just turn on the TV and watch some Taiwanese soap opera that spans hundreds of episodes,” he shook his head and laughed, probably both at the vagaries of forum posters and the drawn out melodrama so popular in the Taiwanese soap operas. “I believe the mods are doing a good job and DeNA is doing much better than with BB1 regarding their communication and the way they listen to their customers.” He stopped for a moment, turning the whisky glass in his hands as he thought about what he would say. “As for the F2P and P2P, I believe that everyone is free to enjoy the game as he wishes and we should respect each other’s choice. I am a P2P with a team designed to win in PvP. Balancing game content and difficulty so that both P2P and F2P can enjoy the game is very difficult. There is no real solution but I thought DeNA did quite well by switching between events designed for F2P and P2P. The daily, weekly and gauntlet events are great for F2P, and, frankly, damn boring for P2P like me, while obviously, the PvP event was designed for heavy P2P. The new gem system is great too, as it will allow F2P to eventually get a good commander.” He shrugged, the F2P and P2P issue was never going to go away, and moved on. “Due to time constraints, I have to choose which event I want to participate in, and I base the decision on my work, real life activities, the reward and type of event. I am really only interested in PvP events and guild war events. You can expect to see me on top of leaderboard for those kind of events. As for the PVE contents, I will participate only if the reward can give me an edge on a future PvP event. A reward like Aurea, for example. Weekly events are very difficult for me because of the lack of time. Gauntlets are fun provided they give a challenge to my squad, like it was for last one, before DeNA nerfed it.” Smiling a little ruefully due to the complications that had arisen around the guilds, he went on, “I am a proud member of the Strawdragons and the White Dragon Guild (WDG). In my heart I will always be WDG. I originally planned to join WDG in Blood Battalion but the game was closed before I could send my application to the guild. In BB2, there is a member limit per guild, so a new guild had to be created. To remain competitive and fair with everybody in WDG, people willing to rank high were placed in Strawdragons and casual players just willing to have fun with a great community remained in WDG. I’m sure the guild leaders will find a way of moving people around as necessary.” We chatted a bit more about the whisky, talked and laughed about BB2 players and their odd quirks. Then, looking intently into my eyes, he said, “Have dinner with me.” Then with a slow, seductive smile, he continued, “We can go to down river to The Deck.” It was quite an offer. Both dinner and whatever he might be implying with that smile. The Deck was a swanky epicurean delight, renowned for sublime and contemporary pan-Asian fusion cuisine. I thought briefly of ¢hrome, then shrugging mentally, accepted the offer of dinner. Category:Mizy Category:ITCM